Seminars & Events
Monday, February 11, 2013: Dr. Daphne Soares (University of Maryland College Park) will speak on "The Sensory World of Cavefishes" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Monday, March 4, 2013: Dr. Joe Cheer (University of Maryland Baltimore) will speak on "Endogenous Cannabinoids and the Pursuit of Reward" at 4:45 pm in Goodpaster Hall 195.
Friday, April 12, 2013: Dr. Jill McGaughy (University of New Hampshire) will speak on "The Role of Cortical Norepinephrine in the Ontogeny of Executive Function" at 3:00 pm in Schaefer Hall 106.
Alumni Highlight
Dr. Erin Johnson '02 recently received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and was inducted as an alumni member of Nu Rho Psi.
SMP Spotlight
Ron Saul, "Chronic activation of the substantia nigra nociceptin/orphanin receptor induces motor deficits similar to Parkinson's disease," 2008. Saul, the 2008 winner of the Neuroscience Award, infused a drug into the substantia nigra of rats and measured the resulting motor behaviors, mood disturbances, and cognitive abilities.
Slomski, Jennifer (2009). Use of a Touchscreen to Assess Categorization Learning in Rats. Mentor: Dr. Anne Marie Brady
Abstract
Categorization is a cognitive task requiring objects to be generalized into and discriminated out of a category. Touchscreens are touch-sensitive computer monitors shown to be useful in assisting with cognitive tasks in research. This study sought to use a touchscreen to have rats categorize stimuli based on membership in the oval, rectangle, triangle or star category. While none of the rats in the study successfully completed the shaping process to enter the next phases, the results from the study do not contradict the likelihood that rats are capable of using a touchscreen for this purpose. With more time, the rats in this study should have completed the shaping process and continued on to the proposed training and testing methods.
